1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to liquid dispensers and more particularly to liquid dispensers that are activated by the rise and fall of a level of water in a reservoir or cup of an apparatus during the spray action of the wash arm of a dishwasher.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Domestic dishwashing machines are typically supplied with a rinse additive by one of two means. The first is through a solid rinse additive that is eroded during a dispensing cycle of the dishwashing machine, thereby providing a rinse additive solution to the water in the dishwashing machine. Other domestic washing machines, typically the top of the line models, have a build-in liquid rinse additive dispenser. The rinse additive dispenser is wired to a timer in the dishwashing machine to inject a pre-set amount of liquid rinse additive into the final rinse to minimize spotting and enhance drying.
The liquid rinse dispensers may fail after several years of use. In high/hard solids water, the user may notice a deterioration of the washing results immediately, but in softer waters, it may take a number of cycles for the deterioration of results to show up when the dispenser fails. As a result, many rinse additive injectors are neglected, resulting in the rinse additive not being added to the dishwashing machines with the resultant increase in spotting and harder drying. Further, it is costly to have a repairman come into the house to service the malfunctioning dispenser, so often the use of the liquid rinse additive dispensers are discontinued by many users.
To date, applicant is unaware of any liquid dispensers for a rinse additive for retrofitting of a dishwashing machine not furnished with a build-in dispenser. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,226,096, issued Dec. 24, 1940 to N. W. Halsey, a detergent dispenser for washing machines is disclosed. The detergent dispenser is activated by the water in the washing machine. However, the dispenser is not adapted for repetitive dispensing of detergent without refills after each use.
In a non-related field, that of dispensing a concentrated liquid into a tank of a toilet, dispensers are used to repeatedly dispense a small level of liquid with each flush of the toilet. One example of such a dispenser is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,524, issued Oct. 15, 1974 to Avard Easter. The automatic liquid dispenser is for an inverted bottle of concentrated liquid. The dispenser has a top seal and a bottom seal, such that when the float is lowered the bottom seal opens, allowing the liquid within a hollow member to be dispensed. At the same time, the top seal is closing, preventing additional liquid from entering into the hollow member. The top seal and bottom seal are formed with plugs that are presumably solid and inflexible. Such a construction allows the opportunity for the product to flow through the dispenser just as the bottom seal is being released and the top seal has not yet completely been sealed off at the top. Therefore, it is not a completely accurate charge of product that is dispensed with each cycle.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with the prior art devices and provides for a gravity feed liquid dispenser that accurately discharges a set volume of product with each dispensing cycle of the dispenser.